Young nubile girls forced to live bare-chested at a temple in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai

Young nubile girls forced to live bare-chested at a temple in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai

Madurai,Sept27:Young girls forced to live bare-chested at a temple in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai as part of a pied rite have been protected more humiliations after the administration ordered today that they must be allowed to cover their bodies.

Seven girls decked up like goddesses, with only jewellery to cover their chest, spend 15 days in the care of a male adorer as part of the annual ritual. Only girls who haven’t reached puberty are sent to the temple.

“It is an ancient custom. Parents send their girls voluntarily,” said Madurai collector K Veera Raghava Rao, who ordered clothes for the girls to ensure they were not harassed or abused.

“We informed the villages that the girls have to be properly clothed. They can wear jewellery over their clothes,” he added.

Mr Rao asserted, however, that a team of officials investigated and found no abuse of children at the temple. “”They treat them as goddesses,” he said.

More than 60 villages that participate in the ritual worship the girls like goddesses. The Collector has tamed these communities to ensure that the girls are fully covered.

A video post unveil bare chested girls walking into the temple with offerings. Another show the girls playfully taking a shower taking water from a small tank inside the temple area.

The report claimed that more than 60 villages participate in the practice and the priest of the temple then handpicks seven girls to stay under his care for 15 days inside the temple.

Seven girls at a stage of attaining puberty are turned into objects of divinity at a temple in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district, the Covai Post has exposed.

Under this disturbing religious exercise, the teen and pre-teen girls are forced to live inside the temple decked up like goddesses and paraded bare-chested with only few pieces of jewelry around their necks as elders of the village believe it will bring prosperity and even progeny, it has been reported.

Following the Covai Post expose , an enquiry committee was formed by Collector K Veera Raghava Rao to probe the matter. He also ordered that the girl in the temple should be allowed garments to cover their bodies.